Tune Tuesday (005)

Welcome to the fifth Tune Tuesday. A feature I started right here at Camisado Mind!!
Tune Tuesday is a lot like "Music Monday" that was started....somewhere. But what I'll do is give you a topic and you'll give me ten songs that fit it.
It could be a "writing playlist", a "feel good playlist"....whatever. Sound good?
Okay, so this week's topic is:




Best "break-up" Songs!

These could be songs about a sad break-up, a happy one or songs about being better off without that person. Hey, even songs about missing the person you’ve broken up with. As long as they’re about a post break-up. (If anything is in another language, put an asterisk* next to it and tell us at the bottom what it translates to!)


Here’s my playlist:
in no particular order)
1. “Take Me Along” by Miley Cyrus - link
2. “All I Wanted” by Paramore - link
3. “Everything You’re Not” by Demi Lovato - link
4. “Solo” by Demi Lovato - link
5. “Over Me Now?” by Gloriana - link
6. “Undo It” by Carrie Underwood - link
7. “Why” by Jason Aldean -  link
8. “All We Ever Do is Say Goodbye” by John Mayer - link
9. “I Won’t Apologize” by Selena Gomez & the Scene - link
10. “You Lost Me” by Christina Aguilera - link
11. “Fearless” by Colbie Caillat - link
12. “The Truth” by Jason Aldean - link
13. “Collapsed” by Aly & AJ - link
14. “Love Don’t Live Here” by Lady Antebellum - link
15. “You Had Me” by Joss Stone - link
16. “Dreaming With a Broken Heart” by John Mayer - link
17. “I Keep On Forgetting (To Forget About You)” by JoJo - link
18. “Stay” by Miley Cyrus - link
19. “Too Little Too Late” by JoJo - link
20. “Forever & Always” Taylor Swift - link

**leave a comment with your playlist so I can check it out!! :)
(meme picture code is in sidebar →)

Review: "Dead in the Family" by Charlaine Harris

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
Released: May 5th, 2010
Publisher: Cengage Gale
Age: Adult
Pages: 465
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Acquired: Library
Summary: Sookie Stackhouse has finally settled into a relationship with the Viking vampire Eric, and her errant brother Jason seems to have his life in order, too. But all the other people in Sookie’s life – Eric himself, her former lover Bill, her friend and boss Sam – are having family problems. Eric’s maker shows up with Eric’s ‘brother’ in tow, the ailing Bill can only be healed by a blood sibling, and Sam’s brother’s marriage is about to take place... or will it? The furor raised by the coming out of the two-natured has yet to settle; some people are just not ready to sit down to dinner with a man who turns into a dog. And Sookie herself is still recovering from her last ordeal. She’s definitely improving, physically and mentally, but she’s always going to have some dark moments now. The werewolves tell her that there have been strange and ominous passers-by in the Stackhouse woods; now Sookie is about to come face-to-face with one of her more distant relatives..

Review: Charlaine Harris has a very imaginative mind, that much is obvious, but it seems that it's lost in translation by the time it makes it to the page.

Dead in the Family is about the aftermath of the Fae War that happened in the previous book--Dead and Gone. Family, be it Sookie's, Eric's, Bill's, or even Sam's, is the main focus. Claude, Sookie's fairy cousin comes to live with her because he feels lonely after his sister Claudine's death. Sookie gets a visit from her telepathic nephew, Hunter--her cousin Hadley's son. And Eric gets a visit from his maker, Appius Livius Ocella. Of course a slew of other people both good and bad come in.

Sadly, I feel Charlaine  Harris just isn't as interested in this series as her readers are. Instead of writing what she feels is right, she's just writing what she thinks we want to see.

I'm still Team Eric, but I loved any interaction with Sam. I've always loved him and if the series continues, I hope he's in it more and more.

Any time confrontation or danger happened it seemed to wrap up so nicely and without a hitch. Anytime something happened it would take up a page or two, but the most random things that were of no importance took up pages...even a chapter or two! Kind of aggravating!

I'm a fan of all the characters but we don't get too much depth with them!

I'm going to continue to read this series because I enjoy this world. I just wish Charlaine Harris would put more heart into it.

P.S. If you're a fan of True Blood, how do you feel about the way the writers and Alan Ball have taken the series!? I'm actually annoyed by it and wish Charlaine Harris would help them along. This is a great series, just not well told. But the show is like a circus! Ugh!


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Meet Me On Monday! (006)

Meet Me on Monday is hosted by Never Growing Old and it's a meme for bloggers to get to know each other one Monday at a time.


This week's questions:


1. What is your favorite kind of potato chip?
I love Lay's Flamin' Hot potato chips! But plain chips and Ruffle Cheddar & Sour Cream are close runner-ups! :)

2. Do you make your bed everyday?
Most of the time, yes. Now that I've moved my room around & pulled my bed away from the wall, it's a lot easier!

3. How often do you go to the hair salon?
Once or twice a year. I don't care to cut my hair that often. I cut about 6inches off the last visit & now I just want it to grow out, so if I go, it'll be for a trim. If I wanted a more intense dye, I'd go to a salon, otherwise I just do it myself! :)

4. What do you dip your French fries in?
Ketchup. Sometimes I'll try honey mustard or BBQ sauce...but I prefer ketchup. But I like curly fries the best--Arby's--and I don't dip those in anything!!

5. Do you shop with coupons?
I'm not the shopper of the house, but I do love the coupons. Especially when I need something; I hate asking for something! I also go through most Sunday's & clip clip away! I know when I do my own shopping I'll be using them A LOT!! :)

Blog Hop and Follow Friday!

This week's question:
Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?
I do use a rating system for the books I read. The way I rate is in the sidebar over there →!
The reason I have a rating system is because it's easier to let people know how I liked a book at first glance. But I also am a little picky the way I rate. Five stars doesn't always mean I loved the plot...it usually differs the reason I rate something, so I recommend that you read my entire review before you assume I gave it a five star rating because it was amazing or one star because it was horrible.
If I give a book a half rating I usually round up, unless I don't think it's completely worthy of whatever is the next star.
Which I try to tell you. :)
Hope that clarifies things!

On Parajunkee's Follow Friday, she gives us a blog to follow and then we post our sites in the linky. Hoping people will follow our blog!
This week's featured blogger is: Amanda from Book Geek!!
And today's question is:
What is the first book you remember reading?
I honestly don't know. I wish I did. I loved the Boxcar Children books and the Junie B. Jones books when I was younger, but I don't know if they were the first books I read.



If you're here to follow from the blog hop of follow friday, leave a comment and I'll follow back!!
:)

Review: "Imprinted Souls" by Daniele Lanzarotta

Imprinted Souls by Daniele Lanzarotta

Released: June 13th, 2010
Publisher: Rocket Science Productions, LLC
Age: Young Adult
Pages: 195
Overall:
Challenge: 2010 Debut Author | The Story Siren
Acquired: Library
Summary: Entrapped in her grief and sorrow, Lexi roams through life with no purpose. She has not been the same ever since an accident took away her High School boyfriend and soul mate. For a while, Lexi could still feel Matt with her and the dreams reassured her that they were still connected, but with time, the dreams started to fade and the pain of his absence deepened. She was convinced that he was gone, and with him, so was part of her soul, the part of her soul that had been imprinted by Matt. It would take a different type of imprint to bring Lexi back to life, but that imprint would come with a price. The dangers of being with a vampire who still has strong ties to his human life, and the possibility of losing what is left of her connection with her one and true soul mate, Matt; a hidden connection that still lives within the shadows of what is left of her soul.


Summary: I wouldn’t have known about this book if it weren’t for goodreads “giveaway page”. I read about it and it sounded really interesting. Unfortunately it’s only available online, so I asked the library to order it.

When I got it home, I realized how absolutely small it is—195 pages. So you could end up reading this book in a few hours.

So much happens in the first 100 pages that you don’t really have time to get to know the other characters. I had a hard time deciding if I liked Tyler or if I felt Matt was someone she should be mourning deeper.

In about 120 pages, she goes to Italy, meets two vampires, falls in love, loses someone close to her, and moves to New York—originally from Florida. Basically you don’t have time to really think too much. Which to be honest, I liked. I never felt like the book was dragging on, and even though so much happens in such a short span of time I didn’t feel like there needed to be much more said.

I’m sure some of you would like me to compare this to Twilight (or any other popular vampire book), but guess what….I’m not! You’ll have to read for yourself. This is such a quick read. I enjoyed it and am excited for the sequel, Bloodlust, can’t wait to see what happens. I enjoy the quick read of this one, but I kind of hope that there’s more depth and emotion.



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Review: "Heavenly" by: Jennifer Laurens

Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens

Released: August 15th, 2009
Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing
Age: Young Adult
Pages: 296
Overall:
Acquired: Won from the author, Jennifer Laurens.
Summary: I met someone who changed everything. Matthias. My autistic sister's guardian angel. Honest. Inspiring. Funny. Hot. And immortal. That was the problem. What could I do? I did what any other girl would do-I fell in love with him. Zoë's sister darts in front of cars. Her brother's a pothead. Her parents are so overwhelmed; they don't see Zoë lost in her broken life. Zoë escapes the only way she knows how: partying. Matthias, a guardian sent from Heaven, watches over Zoë's autistic sister. After Zoë is convinced he's legit, angel and lost girl come together in a love that changes destiny. But Heaven on Earth can't last forever.


Review: First, I have to say that Jennifer Laurens is probably the nicest author—ever. (I will be doing an interview and giveaway with her soon, so stay tuned.)
Even though I am an atheist (one who doesn’t believe there is a god or “otherworldly” being) I do not judge a book by its contents or what the main subject is about. And Heavenly sounded like a really interesting book, so I was excited to win it (especially a signed copy—along with its sequel, Penitence).

Zoe is a senior in high school who may have an addiction to alcohol, the attention of boys, an autistic little sister and a brother who is a pothead and all is a huge burden she carries around with her.

Then she meets her sister, Abria’s, guardian angel Matthias. Of course, she doesn’t yet know the he is an actual angel, sent from heaven to look over her unpredictable sister. She darts through cars and reacts before anyone else can think.

It is quite obvious that the connection between Zoe and Matthias is immediate and imminent. And the attraction Zoe feels for Matthias is well expressed on page.

I loved Zoe’s independence and that she didn’t care too much of what others thought about her (to some degree) but she still had a big heart and just wanted the people she loved to be happy. Even if she wasn’t winning in the end. Of course, as a human, she had the selfish thoughts that if her brother would stop smoking pot and if her sister weren’t autistic her life would be easier.

I will say that I was a little upset with the ending, not in a “oh my gosh, did that really happen” kind of way, just the “well, isn’t there another option…I think there could’ve been another option.”

I did read the preview to Penitence and was confused, as was most likely the point.
I have a few books lined up to read, but I’m definitely reading Penitence soon.
I found myself emotional in some parts, even felt the sting of tears threatening to appear….didn’t actually cry…but there was some sniffling.

I can’t wait to read more titles by Jennifer. Check out her blog: http://jenniferlaurens.blogspot.com/

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